2018-19 Guide To Yellow Springs

38 the Guide to YelLow Springs y 2018 - 1 9 Y e l l ow S p r i n g s N ews 1. Mad River Mad River is one of the best rock bands Yellow Springs has yet produced. Founded here in 1966, its two 1968 and 1969 releases are classic acid rock albums. With a lineup of four Antioch students (Lawrence Hammond, Rick Bockner, David Robinson, and Tom Manning) and one local (Greg Dewey), Mad River moved to Berkeley, Calif. in March 1967. During the Summer of Love, centered in San Fran- cisco, Mad River shared concert bills with now-legendary bands like Big Brother & the Holding Company, the Grateful Dead and Santana. Mad River’s performing career began in 1966 when the band played at the Majaga at 128 Dayton St., now The Gulch. The bar had a small balcony with a stage in the back above the pool tables. Hammond recently recalled, “the place was dark, and the tiny stage was in black light. We were ghosts.” A quarter century after Mad River broke up in 1969, Hammond had a radio hit when the Judds took his song “John Deere Trac- tor” to #29 on the Billboard country charts. Suggested listening: “Cherokee Queen” on their eclectic second album, “Paradise Bar & Grill.” 2. Greg Dewey Born and raised in Yellow Springs, drummer Greg Dewey is best known for playing at Woodstock with Country Joe & the Fish in 1969. Prior to his year with that band, Dewey played with Mad River. With Dewey long- haired and shirtless, the 1970 Woodstock movie prominently featured Country Joe & the Fish. Because of their photogenic appeal, they appeared as musicians in three more films in 1970 and 1971: “Zachariah,” star - ring a young Don Johnson; “Gas-s-s-s;” and Charlton Heston’s “The Omega Man.” After Country Joe & the Fish, Dewey played and sang with many other bands. Most notable were 1970s major label bands Grootna and Bodacious D.F., as well as the seasonal Christmas Jug Band. Dewey’s earliest childhood home is now behind 100 Corry St., in the small multi-col - ored building that was moved from its original location on Marshall Street. Suggested listening: his new Greatest Hits album. 3. Nicholas Q. Dewey Greg Dewey’s younger brother, songwriter Nicholas Q. “Nick” Dewey, left, wrote the 1978 Jefferson Starship hit “Runaway.” The song went to #12 on the Billboard charts and still plays on the radio. Born and raised in Yellow Springs, he began life in the same small multi-colored building as his brother. Suggested listening: Jefferson Starship “Runaway.” 4. Chuck Berry Though Chuck Berry never lived in town, he did eat lunch here once in 1958. At the time, his now-classic rock ’n’ roll song “Johnny B. Goode” had just been released. “Noted entertainers, Alan Freed’s ‘The Big Beat,’ stopped for lunch in Yellow Springs recently en route to an engagement at the Cincinnati Gardens. One bus load ate lunch at the Glen Café and the other at the 68 Grill,” reads a May 1, 1958, Yellow Springs News article. Taken alone, commemorating where a famous man ate lunch 60 years ago is trivial. In context of the area’s dark history of racial segregation, though, it is educational. The restaurant where Berry ate, the Glen Café at 215 Xenia Ave. (now the Winds), notoriously refused to serve black cus- tomers well into the 1950s. Thankfully, ownership changed not long before Berry stopped here. The new ownership served all, regardless of race, including Berry, a true musical superstar. Suggested listening: Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode.” 5. Richie Furay Born and raised in Yellow Springs, Richie Furay sang and played guitar in the 1960s Los Angeles rock band Buffalo Springfield. Also featuring future superstars Neil Young and Stephen Stills, Buffalo Springfield had one big hit in 1967, “For What It’s Worth.” Furay went on to co-found 1970s coun- try rock band Poco. According to his 2006 memoir Pickin’ Up the Pieces, Furay dis- covered his true calling in the early 1980s when he became a Christian minister. As a boy, Yellow Springs “looked very much like Mayberry, but it was quite a progressive community,” wrote Furay in his memoir. His first lived in an apartment on the second floor of 241 Xenia Ave. Furay’s Gift Shop, his parents’ business, stood next door in what is now Unfinished Creations. Suggested listening: Buffalo Springfield, “For What It’s Worth.” 6. Ian Buchanan Old Yellow Springers still reminisce about the Village Bakery, which occupied the current Dunphy Realty building at 251 Xenia Ave. Around midnight, crowds used to gather for its fresh donuts. In the early 1960s, as detailed in Jorma Kaukonen’s new mem- oirs Been So Long, the bakery also housed all-night folk music hootenannies, starring both Kaukonen and his musical mentor, Ian Buchanan. Buchanan fingerpicked country blues on the guitar, a rare music at the time. Before his 1982 death, Buchanan only performed y  A traveling tour Home Decor & Gifts That Make Your Heart Happy! 138 Dayton St., YS | 937.416.7569 | thebluebutterfly138 Agraria is a project of the Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions Agraria is a center for research and education about regenerative land use that supports the expansion of our regional food system and serves as a platform for community resilience. Visit us at the farm or at www.communitysolution.org to learn about volunteering, conservation, educational, and recreational opportunities at Agraria. 131 E. Dayton Yellow Springs Road Yellow Springs, OH 45387 937-767-2161 • Information and Assistance Seniors and caregivers can call/e-mail the Yellow Springs Senior Center or Council for information on senior/caregiving issues and services. The Council’s Directory of Services and Support is available at the Center. • Partners in Care (PIC) Program Designed to keep seniors (60+) in their own or family member’s home for as long as possible. Depending on need, in-home services are purchased from local agencies. Council staff works with the Yellow Springs Senior Center when assisting Yellow Springs seniors and families. • Caregiver Support Caregiver Resource Center – information and materials on a wide variety of topics to review, borrow & keep. Caregiver support groups, educational and wellness programs and respite care. Support for Greene County Seniors & Caregivers 937-376-5486 or 1-888-795-8600 /www.gccoa.org Programs provided by the Council on Aging are possible through a countywide senior services levy. Greene County Council on Aging